Summer Cloud
by dragonliege242
Summary: Instead of staying in one place, Ichika's kidnappers moved him from place to place, eventually ending up in Italy, where the Varia attack and Ichika makes a daring escape attempt, attracting Xanxus's interest. Smart!Strong!Multi-Flame!Ichika. Pairings undecided.
1. Prologue Part 1

This is a really weird idea that came to me while I was reading the Katekyo Hitman Reborn manga. I was thinking, _"Man, if only Ichika was half as badass as these guys."_ Then, I thought, _"Why couldn't he be?"_ And thus, this story was born.

Ichika is going to be ridiculously strong. The only IS character that can beat him in an IS battle is Chifuyu herself. Even the weakest members of the Varia are supposedly superhuman, not to mention Ichika is the Cloud Guardian. The only ones who are anywhere close to his level in skill are Tatenashi, Madoka and Chifuyu. Not to mention, Ichika isn't the strongest in the Vongola. Tsuna, Xanxus, Kyoya, Mukuro, Reborn and Mammon are stronger than he is. He's about the same level as the rest of Tsuna's guardians.

This story takes place 10 years after the Arcobalenos' curse was lifted. Tsuna took over as Vongola Decimo when he was 19, 5 years after the end of Reborn, which by the way, I found very disappointing. There were so many things the author didn't address. The Earth Flames, who's the one keeping them in balance like Checkerface with the Sky Tri-Ni-Sette, the Varia's Cambio Formas, other than Xanxus's, etc. I intend to try and address all of these in this story.

Enjoy!

* * *

"…"

How long had he been here? A day? A week? A month? He had no way of telling. He had bound, gagged and blindfolded the whole time. He didn't know how much time had passed since he was kidnapped, just that he been moved from place to place. He had so far heard the announcement system at the train stations at Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka, the churning of waves and the sound of a ship's horn. He didn't even know if he was still in Japan anymore.

For being a kidnapping victim, Ichika thought he was pretty well off. His captors made sure to keep him well fed and hydrated. If they let him take showers, he'd be golden.

He was no fool though. He would only be treated that well as long as he was still useful to them. The moment they were done with him, he was as good as dead.

"…_Is the Mondo Grosso over yet? Did Chifuyu-nee win? Does she know I've been kidnapped?" _If she did, she was probably worried sick and tearing up Japan looking for him. He just hoped she hadn't tossed the Title Match for him. He had been kidnapped on the day of the finals. That was the only reason he could think of as to why someone would kidnap him. But, seeing as how he was still alive, Chifuyu probably comply with whatever demands they had, which meant that most likely, she had forfeited.

"…Shit!" Chifuyu would probably knock him over his head for cursing, but he didn't care at this point. He had to get out of here, he had to go home. Chifuyu may be strong, but she's also completely useless when it came to household chores, like cleaning the house, doing the laundry and cooking.

"…! ...! ...!"

"…! …!"

Ichika's ears picked up on faint, raised voices. But, they weren't speaking in Japanese. They were speaking…Italian? He vaguely recalled some of the words they were speaking from the commentary on the Mondo Grosso.

Then, he heard a loud sound that made his ears ring. A…gunshot? He heard screaming, gunshots, explosions, just what on earth was going on!? Were his captors being attacked? Or were his captors having a falling out with each other? He heard the ones watching him speak to each other and in Italian and walk hurriedly away, and then heard a door slamming shut. So he was in a separate room?

This was good. He didn't intend to stay here any longer. He spat the gag out of his mouth and got up, and stumbled a bit, his legs numb from sitting for so long. He carefully shuffled his feet, until his shoulder touched the wall. Then, he moved along the wall until the texture of what he felt on his shoulder changed from the feel of concrete to the feel of cold metal.

"This must be the door." Ichika muttered to himself. He slowly knelt down and used his bound hands to feel along the frame and his fingers touched a hinge.

"So, I'm on the side of the door that will hide me from sight. But, on the other hand, I'll have to move slightly longer distance to get out of the room. And I don't how far the door swings back. If it swung back all the way, he would get hit and lose his balance. Weighing the pros and cons, Ichika decided by the other side of the door.

"The next person to step in is going to get a huge surprise." Ichika muttered darkly.

* * *

Xanxus was not in a good mood. Then again, he never really was. Xanxus was a tall, black-haired, red-eyed man with scars on his face and a permanent scowl. He was pissed because his damned new boss, though he would never acknowledge him as such, sent the Varia on a mission to check out a bunch of idiots who weren't aware they had trespassed into Vongola territory. The Varia was an organization of elite, superhuman assassins, not fucking errand boys! Oh, he would check them out alright. Check them out of the mortal plane, that is. He didn't give a shit if Sawada protested.

Surprisingly, the captors seemed to be somewhat prepared for their arrival. Maybe not for the best assassins in the world, but definitely for mafia. They had an anti-flame field activated throughout the warehouse, preventing any Dying Will Flames from being used. Or so it was, in theory. They also pissed themselves when the Varia simply raised their eyebrows and smashed the device with their powerful flames from their rings. The fight, or rather the massacre, only got even more boring. They had obviously invested too much in their anti-flame field and were completely unprepared in the event that it failed. Stupid scum. The Varia made short work of them.

Over the noise of the battle, Xanxus heard two of the intruders shouting to each other in Italian.

"We gotta get outta here. These guys are fucking monsters!"

"What about the hostage!? Nothing these bastards can do could possibly compare to what the boss will do to us if we don't bring back the boy!"

"Fuck! Get the brat and let's get the fuck outta here already!"

One of them ran over to an iron door that Xanxus hadn't noticed. Hostage? Boy? Shit, Sawada would bitch at him even more if he didn't at least make an effort to rescue the hostage. He didn't really care if Sawada complained, but waiting for him to finish talking his ear off was more trouble than it was worth. The kid must be important if these morons were risking their lives to bring him with them.

He raised his pistol at the head of the one who stayed behind and fired. The stupid bastard didn't even have time to turn around before his upper torso was incinerated. Sighing in boredom, Xanxus started walking to the iron door when the idiot who went in shouted in panic.

"He's not here! The brat's go-Aghhh!" The moron started screaming in pain for some reason. Xanxus looked vaguely amused as the idiot did some sort of jig as he backed towards the door. Then he saw the cause. A bound and blindfolded black-haired boy had sunk his teeth deep into the idiot's throat, causing blood to spray up into the air in a high arc.

Xanxus watched in fascination. It wasn't often that he was impressed, but this was definitely one of those times. The blindfold was black and was multi-layered, meaning the kid couldn't see at all. Not to mention, his hands were bound tightly with metal wires behind his back. He couldn't rely on sight at all, nor did he have the use of his arms. A human's nose wasn't sensitive enough to track someone by smell. Which meant...he relied solely on his hearing and instinct to seek out the scum's throat. Not bad at all. Xanxus could count the number of people who would have been able to do the same thing with just his ten fingers. The kid was definitely assassin-material. As he contemplated recruiting the kid into the Varia, the rest of his team showed up, having already finished off their prey.

"VOOOOOOIIIII! Boss, what the hell are you doing standing around in a daze!" Squalo, a silver-haired man with a sword attached to his hand, the Varia Rain guardian, Sword Emperor as well as Xanxus's right-hand man, yelled in his usual eardrum-busting volume.

"Shut up, scum. Look." Xanxus nodded in the direction of the moron, who was flailing wildly trying to get the boy off. Dumbass, he was only making his wound worse. Squalo whistled in appreciation.

"That's one tenacious brat. His feet aren't even touching the ground and he's still hanging on." Xanxus silently agreed and made up his mind. This kid was joining the Varia.

Xanxus scowled when the moron finally regained some measure of composure and pulled out a knife and stabbed the boy's throat from behind. That brat was too precious to die! He raised his pistol. Losing a limb or two would teach him a lesson. Then, he paused. The boy was still going! If anything, he was getting even more vicious. It must be true that even the smallest animal would fight back when cornered. The moron finally fell to the ground, his strength rapidly leaving his body, until finally, he stopped moving. The boy seemed to sense that his captor was dead as he released his throat, his teeth completely stained blood-red and he slumped to the ground, breathing erratically and blood spurting from the stab wound on the back of his neck.

"Lussuria! Heal the boy, we're taking him with us!" Xanxus barked an order to his Sun guardian, a flamboyant man with a strange mix of brown, green and red hair and wearing sunglasses.

"Yes, boss~!" Lussuria held up his right hand, the ring on his middle finger glowing, and a peacock wreathed in yellow flames appeared. The peacock extended its tail feathers and bathed the boy in Sun Flames. The boy's wounds immediately started closing and his breathing became more regulated, a testament to the strength of the 'Activation' property of Lussuria's Sun Flames.

"Boss, what do you intend to do with the boy?" Levi A Than, a tall, spiky black-haired man with a moustache and a goatee and the Varia Lightning guardian, asked.

"Isn't that obvious? He's joining us. He has too much raw potential to let it go to waste."

"Yes, boss!" Levi didn't really understand, the brat did kill his captor with only the use of his hearing, teeth and sheer tenacity, but that didn't mean he was Varia material. They didn't even know if he had Dying Will Flames. But, his boss's orders were absolute and he would follow them to the letter.

"Oh, what a cute boy! I just want to gobble him up!" Lussuria gushed as he removed the blindfold from the boy's face and the wires from his arms. Mammon, a small boy wearing a hood over his head, the former Mist Arcobaleno, the Varia Mist guardian and the physically youngest of the team, subtly back away from his possibly pedophilic teammate and momentarily pitied the kid.

"Shishishi. Lussuria, at least get the kid back to headquarters first before you start molesting him." Belphegor, a man with spiky blonde hair that covered up his eyes, the Varia Storm guardian, snickered.

Their mission complete, the Varia left the warehouse, the boy on Lussuria's back. Xanxus pointed his gun over his shoulder and fired. The warehouse was engulfed in a ball of raging fire and ceased to exist.

* * *

Needless to say, 'Trident' Shamal was shocked. He never thought that Xanxus would ever pay him a visit in the infirmary wing, with a wounded kid in tow no less. Lussuria placed him on the bed. The boy looked peaceful, his breathing completely stable and nary a scratch on him. If the kid's mouth wasn't stained with blood, he would have thought he was sleeping.

"Pervert, give the kid a checkup." Xanxus ordered him.

"Seriously? You barge into my infirmary without any warning and now you want me to examine a boy? Sorry, I only take female pati-" Shamal didn't get a chance to finish when Xanxus pointed his pistol at his face.

"Do it or I'll turn you to ash." Shamal held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. There was no way he could beat Xanxus. He only had to examine the kid anyway, it wasn't like he had to treat him or anything. Sighing, Shamal picked his stethoscope and examined the boy's heartbeat and breathing. Perfectly fine, no irregularities. Next, he examined the boy for any external wounds. Once again, nothing. Finally, he gently opened the boy's eyes and flashed a light in them. The pupils immediately dilated and constricted. As far as he could tell with a preliminary examination, the kid was perfectly healthy. But…

"Where did the blood in his mouth come from? I didn't any wounds that could explain it."

"He tore someone's throat out with his teeth." Xanxus replied matter-of-factly. Shamal started.

"A brat his age killed someone? With his teeth, no less?" Shamal looked surprised. The brat did not look like he belonged to any mafia Famiglia he knew.

"Which Famiglia is he from?"

"None. As far as I know, the kid's a civilian." This time, Shamal jumped to his feet.

"YOU BROUGHT A CIVILIAN TO VONGOLA HEADQUARTERS!?" Did Xanxus take leave of his senses!? The Vindice would haul his ass to Vendicare if they found out he broke the Omerta.

"I'm recruiting him into the Varia."

"…What?" Did he hear that right? Xanxus personally scouting someone out?

"Mammon! Get one of the shithead scientists here! I want to know whether the kid has any Flames." Mammon nodded and floated away in the direction of the R&D building.

Shamal pinched in temples to suppress his migraine. Looking back towards the kid, he decided to hook him up to a Cardiac Monitor to observe any change in his vitals. The monitor emitted beeping noises at regular intervals.

"So, what's this kid's story anyway?"

"The morons we were sent after kidnapped him. That's all I know."

"Exactly how do you intend to convince him to join the Varia? He probably has a family, a civilian family, that's worried about him. Not to mention that civilian kids tend to be adverse to the idea of killing."

Xanxus shrugged.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

Someone knocked on the door and opened it. Xanxus scowled. Standing in the doorway was his new boss, Vongola Decimo, Sawada Tsunayoshi, who, while Xanxus somewhat respected, he still did not like, mostly because he reminded him too much of Vongola Nono, Timoteo Vongola, his adoptive father.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was a brown-haired, brown-eyed Japanese male of slightly above average height. He was wearing a black suit that had become his and his guardians' everyday attire where since their official inauguration. On his hands were red metal gauntlets, the X-Gloves Ver. VG, modified to permanently stay in that form even when Tsuna wasn't in Dying Will Mode or Hyper Dying Will Mode.

"What are you doing here, _boss_?" Xanxus asked, adding sarcasm to the word boss. Unfazed, Tsuna smiled.

"I was quite surprised when I heard you brought a child back from your mission, so I came to see him for myself. Is that him?" Tsuna's warm eyes turned to the boy on the bed. Tsuna's eyes widened and his smile grew wider.

"I sense a strong flame coming from him, though it doesn't appear that he's tapped into it yet. You have a good eye for talent, Xanxus." Xanxus snorted.

"Boss, I've brought them." Mammon floated into the room, a green-haired child wearing glasses, a bespectacled red-haired man and a blonde man with a lollipop in his mouth trailing behind him. They were the three of the five top scientists in the mafia. Former Lightning Arcobaleno, current head of Vongola's R&D Department, the modern day Da Vinci, Verde. Current Vongola strategist, technological advisor and inventor, Irie Shouichi. Engineer, inventor and weapon designer, Spanner. Along with Emilio Innocenti and Dietrich Koenig, they were the five greatest minds in the world. Though, 5 years ago, a mind that could rival theirs appeared. Shinonono Tabane, the inventor of Infinite Stratos, IS for short, an incredibly powerful weapon able to aid humans in performing impossible feats. Impossible for those outside of the mafia anyway.

Thinking about the IS made Xanxus snort. Emboldened by the acquisition of 23 of the 467 IS cores invented, the Italian government attempted to eradicate the mafia by sending 15 IS pilots. Dumb move. Granted, some of the small fry Famiglias were destroyed, but the government's efforts had otherwise ended in failure. The IS pilots were all killed and their heads were sent back to the Italian government. The 15 IS cores were taken by Vongola Alliance, with the Vongola themselves holding 10 of them. The government never dared to try anything after that and did their best to suck up to them. The silly attempt to destroy the mafia actually did them some good. With the 10 IS cores in their possession, the Vongola were able to start manufacturing IS weaponry and parts, selling them on the black market to the highest bidder. This was currently one of their biggest sources of money, as every country, organization and associated enterprises were desperate for them.

Xanxus didn't understand the world's fascination with the IS. They took too long to make, they were in heavily limited supply, they cost a small fortune to manufacture and they were stupidly unwieldy. Seriously, who the hell was the idiot who came up with the bright idea of implementing the concept of Shield Energy? What was the point of a weapon of mass destruction if it deactivated after taking a few hits? They weren't really that powerful in the first place. He had personally destroyed two IS units with his Cambio Forma. Heh, he got a laugh out of the looks on the pilots' faces when his Flame of Wrath blasted through their so-called 'Absolute Defense' like it wasn't even there.

"I said bring one of them, not all of them." Xanxus scowled at Mammon, who shrugged.

"When I asked Irie to come, the other two followed out of curiosity."

"Hmph, whatever. One of you, check the kid's Flame type." Xanxus barked at them. Verde and Spanner were unfazed. Shouichi flinched, though it was mostly because of the volume of Xanxus's voice than any fear of him. Shouichi took a device out of his pocket. It didn't look very elaborate, it just appeared to be a monitor connected to electrodes. Shouichi connected the electrodes to the boy's chest and switched the monitor on. He stared at the screen for a moment. Then his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and his jaw dropped.

"T-This is incredible!"

"What is it, Shouichi-kun?" Tsuna asked.

"T-This boy! He has three Flames!"

"What's so special about that? That shitty bomber trash has five." Xanxus sneered.

"It's not the number, it's their strength! His Rain and Storm Flames are already averaging B-rank, while his Cloud Flame is starting to go beyond A-rank! Its strength is almost comparable to Hibari-san's from 5 years ago!"

"What's comparable to Hibari from 5 years ago?" A spiky silver-haired man with green eyes asked. Behind him was a tall black-haired man with light brown eyes.

"Oh, Hayato. Do you need something?" Tsuna asked his Storm Guardian, Gokudera Hayato.

"Decimo, just wanted to remind you that you have a meeting with Kozato tomorrow. Who's the kid, and what's this about being comparable to Hibari?"

"Xanxus brought him back from his mission and apparently, the strength of the child's Cloud Flame can rival Kyoya's five years ago."

Yamamoto Takeshi, Tsuna's Rain guardian, whistled.

"So, I take it Xanxus is recruiting him?"

"Damn straight, I'm not letting the kid's potential to go untapped."

*BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP*

The beeping from the Cardiac Monitor suddenly sped up rapidly. The boy's breathing grew heavy and erratic.

"What's going on!?" Xanxus rose to his feet.

"His vitals are dropping! Dammit, there were internal wounds after all!?"

"That's not possible! Lussuria already used Sun Flames on him! All of his wounds should have already been healed!"

Shamal lifted the boy, searching for a possible explanation. He found it. The scar left behind from the stab wound was turning black.

"Shit, this is…poison!?"

"What!? When did that…!?"

"Tch. Those guys you were sent after were more cunning than you thought. A slow-acting poison on the blade that stabbed the kid that went through his blood stream faster than normal due to the 'Activation' property of the Sun Flame. A trap made for mafia."

"What the hell are you waiting for, pervert!? Give him the antidote!" Hayato shouted at his former mentor.

"How am I supposed to give him an antidote when I don't even know what poison was used!?"

"Then hurry up and find out!"

"I won't make it in time! The poison has already been circulated throughout his body through his blood stream!"

* * *

"…Where am I?" Ichika's eyes opened, but he couldn't see anything. Just pitch black darkness surrounding him. He tried to move, but he found that he didn't have any strength to even twitch.

"Am I…falling?" He experienced a peculiar sensation, as though he was free falling. But there was no air whooshing past him, all he felt was the coldness of the darkness, slowly and steadily freezing him as he fell.

And so he fell, deeper and deeper into the darkness, not knowing when he would reach the bottom.

* * *

"Shit, I'll give him a universal antidote!" Shamal filled a syringe with a colorless liquid. He injected it into one of the boy's visible veins.

"What's that?"

"It's an antidote that can cure most poisons, but if it's one of the rarer poisons in his body, it won't work. I don't have enough time to identify the poison, so if this doesn't work, the kid's dead."

* * *

*SPLASH*

Ichika's body seemed to hit a body of water. But, instead of sinking, Ichika began to float on the surface, moving along with the flow of the current.

"…Where am I now?" He still couldn't see anything. He didn't hear anything but his own voice, he couldn't pick up on any smells. The only thing he could feel was the cold wetness of the water beneath him.

* * *

"Shit, it's not working!" The boy's vitals were still dropping, and patches of his skin were beginning to blacken.

"What to do...what to do..." Shamal frantically thought to himself. Then, an idea hit him. He had no idea if it would work, but he wouldn't know until he tried. He took a needle and extracted a sample of the boy's blood.

"Yamamoto, use your Rain Flame on the kid. If you slow down his bodily functions, it may slow down the poison!" Takeshi nodded and held his hand out. From his palm, a continuous blast of blue flames shot out and coated the boy.

"Alright, that should buy some time!" Shamal poured the blood sample into several test tubes and added various reagents to each.

"Come on...come on...come on..."

* * *

"...My name is...I...I...Ichi...ka..." Ichika was slowly starting to find it harder and harder to remember anything. He could no longer recall the names of his friends. The red-haired boy, the twin-tailed brunette girl, the kendo girl with a ponytail, her eccentric older sister. He was even beginning to forget details like his name, age and birthday. And so, he kept repeating his name to himself over and over, so that he wouldn't forget. But that only delayed the inevitable. Even after repeating his name over a dozen times like a mantra, it was beginning to slip away.

Even so, there was just one memory, a memory of the most important person to him that he held onto with incredible tenacity, even after beginning to forget everything else.

"...Chifuyu-nee..."

Holding on to that precious memory, Ichika's body continued to sail down the body of water he had fallen into.

* * *

"Shamal, hurry up! The kid won't last much longer!" Takeshi had done well, the drop in the boy's vitals. But, even the Rain Flame couldn't completely halt time. The boy's vitals had fallen so low that in just a few moments, the boy would surely die.

"Done! Tch, Aztec Carnation...that's one nasty poison. And it's already gone through most of his body...It's incredible the kid's still alive." Shamal searched his cabinets and pulled out a small vial that had been tucked away at the back. Filling a syringe with the liquid inside, he injected it into the boy.

"Don't let it be too late..."

* * *

"...My...name...is..." And so, even his own name was lost to the boy. Even so, he continued to cling on to the memory of the beautiful black-haired woman, whose name now escaped him. Having lost all but one memory, the boy grew colder and colder.

Then suddenly, he caught a dim glow out of the corner of his eye. He had been in pitch black darkness for so long, it took him a while to remember what light was.

He turned his head as much as he could. A part of his face was submerged in the ice cold water as he turned. The source of the glow was...a silver-haired, grey-eyed woman, dressed in black.

"...Who...?"

**...I am Death...**

The woman did not speak at all, yet the boy clearly heard her voice. Was she speaking directly into his mind?

"...Why...?"

**...You are dying...Just a few more moments...and you'll be dead...There is no stopping it...**

...Odd. The boy had lost his most of his personal memories, emotions and personality, but he still retained common sense and general knowledge. And so he knew that he should have been afraid. That he should be begging for his life to be saved. But, he didn't feel any desperation of any sort. Simply...resignation.

"...I see..."

**...Will you not protest...?**

Death tilted her head to the side ever so slightly, evidently curious about his lack of resistance.

"...Death comes for all. There is no point in protesting against the inevitable..."

**...I see...**

Death was slightly impressed. She had never met a human who hadn't begged for their lives at some point or another. Even the bravest, like Achilles and Heracles had begged on their knees before her. But a boy, not even into puberty yet, showed no fear before her. Was it because his swin down the Styx had destroyed his soul? Nonetheless, she felt an obligation to award him for his bravery.

Hm...the boy only had a few scant seconds left before he expired. What to do...What to do...She was Death, after all. If she so willed it, she could return the boy to the mortal plane.

**...Decisions...Decisions...**

* * *

"..."

They had failed. The Cardiac Monitor did not let out consecutive beeping noises, only a long drawn out beep, meaning that the boy's heart had stopped. He was gone.

"What the hell happened, pervert!? I thought you gave him the antidote!"

"I did, and the poison was most certainly neutralized. But, Aztec Carnation isn't a regular poison. . Unlike regular poisons that target neurons, it actually targets all cells and turns them cancerous. By the time the antidote took effect, most of his vital organs had already failed..." It was a major failure on his part. It had been a very long time since a patient had died on his watch. Not since he was a rookie in fact.

*BAM*

Xanxus smashed the wall with his fist, coated in the Flame of Wrath, causing the wall and everything behind it to disintegrate. Tsuna placed a placating hand on his shoulder and led him outside, followed by his two guardians, Mammon and the three scientists, all with somber looks on their faces.

"...Sorry, kid." Shamal apologized to the boy's body and covered it with a blanket. He needed a smoke.

* * *

"..." The boy frowned. The boy's soul fully passed from the mortal plane.

"...Odd..."

**...Hm...?**

Death looked up from her contemplation when she heard the boy speak.

"...Even though I don't have any reason to...My instinct is telling me to live. To survive. To fight back..."

**...That is your mortal instinct. It is not just humans, all living things want to live longer, to escape from me...**

"...What's the point? In the end, we are mortal. How is it possible to go against an omnipotent force like Death...?"

**...It is not. Even so, mortals simply want to live. Boy, do you wish to live...?**

The boy thought about it. He didn't really know. Death had already stripped him of his identity. Even if he went back, what was waiting for him? It was the same as being a newborn child.

Then, the fading image of a beautiful black-haired woman passed through his mind. And he knew, even if he was already forgetting, that there was still someone waiting for him. He did not fear Death, but he wanted to live, not for himself, but for that woman.

Flickers of flames began to appear around the boy's body, growing and brightening with the strengthening of his resolve.

"...I want to live..."

**...I see. Not for yourself, but for another, huh? You truly are unlike any human I have ever met...**

Three distinct colored flames coated the boy, revitalizing him and causing the cold water around him to slowly evaporate. And at his center, a new flame was slowly flickering into life.

**...Hoooh. This is... Interesting, in that case, in recognition of your bravery, allow me to present you with a small gift...**

Death pressed a slender finger to the flame that was white as a blank canvas, waiting for the boy's resolve to give it color. Upon contact, the white flame turned black with flecks of gold within.

**...May this restore balance to the world...**

Death muttered those words and vanished. At that instant, the now four flames burst forth, igniting and illuminating the boy's surroundings. And then, the boy's vision faded out to white.

* * *

Tsuna stood outside the room where the boy's cooling body lay. Hayato and Takeshi stood at his sides, somber looks on their faces. Shouici, Spanner and Shamel had similar expressions while Verde's expression remained neutral. Mammon's expression was not visible under his hood. Xanxus, on the other hand, was still pissed as hell and destroying everything he could get his hands on. Tsuna shrugged, it was better for him to get it out of his system. He could just deduct the costs for repairs from Xanxus's salary.

Tsuna briefly mourned the death of an innocent life and promised himself to find the boy's family to return the body to them. Then, his Hyper Intuition started reacting. It was telling him that the boy wasn't dead yet! Tsuna's head snapped towards the window, and caught sight of Dying Will Flames slowly igniting around the boy's covered body.

"This sensation...Don't tell me...!? Everyone, hit the deck!"

The warning came just in time as everyone followed him without question. Flames of four colours, purple, blue, red and black burst forth from the room, blowing the door off its hinges and shattering the windows, showering everyone with glass fragments. The walls had been completely disintegrated and the room was...gone. What was once a room was now a gigantic hole in the side of the mansion. The boy's body had fallen to the floor below. And incredibly, his chest was heaving. He was breathing! He was alive!

"Tsuna!" A boy's voice called to him further down the hallway. Tsuna turned to see his mentor, the former Sun Arcobaleno and a member of the Vongola, Reborn. Reborn was a black-haired, black-eyed prepubescent boy dressed in a black suit and fedora. Perhaps the most striking thing about Reborn's appearance was his curled sideburns.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. The child Xanxus brought back from his mission dies from poisoning, but then Dying Will Flames started spewing from his body..." He knew this phenomenon. He had experienced it himself five years ago after all.

"Was that...Ultimate Dying Will Mode!?" Tsuna was in shock. That was natural. Only 2 other people had ever achieved Ultimate Dying Will Mode. Himself and Bermuda von Veckenschtein, the leader of the Vindice and the former Strongest Arcobaleno. With Ultimate Dying Will Mode, new Dying Will Flames were also born. Bermuda's Flame of the Night, and his own Flame of Dawn. Did that mean the boy had also...?

"Shamal, check the child's health. Shouichi-kun, check his Flames again. If I'm right, then..."

Shamal and Shouichi jumped down the hole. Shamal checked the boy's body, but found no trace of external wounds, not even the scar that had been left behind after the stab wound healed. There were irregularities in his breathing or his heartbeat and his eyes responded normally to a light being flashed.

"This is incredible...I'll need to do a more diagnosis to be sure, but it appears that any wounds that the boy had are completely healed."

Shouichi attached the electrodes to the boy's chest and switched the monitor on again. His eyes widened even more than they had the first time.

"This is...!?"

"What do you see, Shouichi?" Verde called down, curious about the effects of the Ultimate Dying Will.

"His three Flames from before have grown stronger. His Storm and Rain Flames are now at A-rank while his Cloud Flames are currently only a bit below the current Hibari-san. And also...a new Flame is registering on the monitor. But...it doesn't appear to be a known Flame. In fact, the Flame is completely different from any other Flame I've ever seen."

"How so?"

"It'll be easier to explain if you come down to look at the monitor." Raising an eyebrow, Verde jumped down, followed by Tsuna and the rest, who were also curious about the nature of this new flame. They gathered around the monitor. On the screen were four waveforms on a vertical and horizontal axis.

"As you can see, the waveforms for normal Flames spike in the direction of the positive vertical axis. This holds true for all Flames, including the Vindice's Flame of the Night, Boss's Flame of Oath and Flame of Dawn, and Xanxus's Flame of Wrath. However, this new Flame is the exact opposite. It spikes in the direction of the negative vertical axis. However, I'm not quite what the significance of this is."

"Then, shall I explain it for you?" A new voice joined the conversation. A white-haired man with glasses and dressed in a green kimono. Tsuna and the others, save Shamal who had only heard about him, knew this man. Old man Kawahira. On the surface, he was a simple shop owner, but his true identity was that of an original Earthling, Checker Face, the Tri-Ni-Sette administrator, as well as the ones who had cursed all the previous generations of Arcobaleno.

Reborn, Mammon and Verde scowled at the sight of him. Even though he had removed their curses five years ago after Talbot had found another way to keep the Tri-Ni-Sette in balance, he did condemn them to a cursed life, unable to age until he had no more use for them.

"Kawahira...No, Checker Face, is there a reason you're here?" Tsuna asked politely.

"I sensed the birth of a new Dying Will Flame unlike any other, so I came to see it for myself. May I see that?" Checker Face asked Shouichi who passed the monitor to him. Checker Face looked at the screen and his eyes narrowed.

"I see...So that's how it is." Checker Face muttered.

"Do you know something?"

Checker Face passed the monitor back to Shouichi.

"It's faster to show you. You have the data for all of the other 16 Dying Will Flames?" Shouichi nodded.

"Combine them into a single waveform." Shouichi did as he said. A new waveform, with many more spikes, was created.

"Now compare it to the new Flame. Notice any similarities?" Shouichi considered the two waveforms for a moment and came to a realization.

"They spike in the same positions along the horizontal axis, just in opposite vertical directions!"

"Exactly, that Flame is the exact opposite of the 16 Dying Will Flames. The 16 Dying Will Flames, including Sawada Tsunayoshi's Flame of Dawn and Bermuda's Flame of the Night, are manifestations of the several aspects of life itself. Whether it's vengeance like Bermuda, or hope like Sawada Tsunayoshi, they are parts of human life. This Flame however is the opposite. It cannot be called a Dying Will Flame. Rather, it's a Flame of Death itself."

"Then, this new Flame is as strong as the Seven Flames of the Sky, the Seven Flames of the Earth, the Flame of the Night and my Flame of Dawn put together?"

"That is correct. As for how this Flame was created...has the boy died?"

"Yes, he was legally dead for 3 minutes."

"I see. Most likely, his soul had already plunged into the afterlife when he managed to activate the Ultimate Dying Will. Thus, in the process of the creation of a new Flame, the essence of Death itself was absorbed into the flame, creating the Flame of Death. Perhaps it's the will of the universe itself..." Checker Face brought his hand to his chin.

"I'll be taking my leave now. I'll come back when the boy awakens. I have a little theory I'd like to confirm." Checker Face vanished from sight in an instant, leaving Tsuna and the others to deal with the aftermath.

"Well, first things first, let's move the kid to another room and keep under observation."

* * *

It had been a full week, and the child had not yet awakened. Though relieved that he had survived, Xanxus was getting a bit impatient. He was blowing off steam in the shooting range when Shamal called.

"The kid finally woke up, just thought you might want to know." Xanxus tossed his phone aside and hurried down to the infirmary. The kid was sitting up in his bed, looking around with a blank look in his eyes.

"Finally awake, kid?" The kid turned in the direction of his voice, staring at him blankly.

"Can you tell me your name?"

The boy opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Xanxus blinked. The boy blinked as well, in confusion. The boy tried again, obviously straining to make a sound, but nothing came out. And Xanxus realized.

The boy was mute.

* * *

And the first part of the prologue is done! I was initially going to extend all the way until the point at which Ichika or rather Salvatore would arrive at IS Academy, but I found that extending past this point would make this chapter seem a bit awkward. Therefore, the prologue will be split into two parts, this and the next chapter that will probably cover up until his arrival at IS Academy.

I made Salvatore mute, mostly just for the heck of it. It adds to the mysteriousness that IS characters perceive, which is what I'm aiming for.

His healing was not the work of Death. Rather, it was the work of his Dying Will Flames. How, you will see next chapter, or you can amuse yourselves by guessing while also explaining why his vocal cords weren't healed.

My next update will be Dragon Emperor of the Heavenly Storm, followed by Dragonberry Chronicles, after which I will return to Black Joker and then this story. This will most likely be my update routine unless I get writer's block.

No one seems very interested in voting for who adopts Prince of Genocide or Infinite Dragon Emperor, so I decided that all authors who offered to adopt can adopt. I just have two conditions. First, rename the story to something else so that readers don't get confused. Second, do a good job.

That's all. Please read and review.


	2. Prologue Part 2

Welcome back! This story doesn't seem to have attracted as much attention as my other stories, but that's to be expected, I guess, with the state of both fandoms. The IS fandom on this site isn't fantastic, with the exception of certain writers like i'mherepresent, fujin, Fangking2 and ZeroXSEED, and the less said about the Reborn fandom, the better. I still shudder when I think of the absurd number of Yaoi fics that make up more than half of the fandom. The only ones that are worse are Naruto, and maybe Bleach. Though, there are good Reborn stories like The Dragon and the Clam by Wragnaroq, and More than No Good by KuraiArcoiris, and those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head.

Either way, I'm going to keep writing this story because I like it. So, here's the second part of the prologue. Enjoy!

* * *

"Hm…"

"…"

Shamal was performing several tests on the boy, asking him to move his limbs, checking his reflexes, asking him basic general knowledge questions and having him write the answers on paper. The boy checked out fine for all of those. Shamal noted that his handwriting was very neat for a boy of his age, something that spoke of practice. So Shamal asked him to write down his name out of the blue, wondering if the boy could write down his name out of reflex, but that was a no go. The boy made to write and actually wrote down what appeared to be the first stroke of a kanji, but paused and clutched his head as though he was having a migraine. So, this wasn't a regular case of amnesia. It was almost as though the boy's soul had been torn out and replaced with a new one.

Still, as far as Shamal could tell, the only abnormalities were his lack of personal memories and the absence of his vocal cords.

Shamal had seen weird things in his time as both an assassin and a doctor. People with one eye, people with three arms, Siamese twin assassins, hell, he could remember a really weird case where his patient's small intestines were shaped like a figure eight. But vanishing vocal cords? That was a new one. But, considering that Dying Will Flames were capable of some of the weirdest shit he had ever seen, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised. As it were, Shamal had a pretty good idea of how the boy had miraculously recovered.

"So, how's the kid, pervert?" The only other person in the room other than Shamal and his patient asked. Xanxus was sitting on a chair in the corner, watching as the best doctor in Italy checked on the Varia's latest prospect.

"Other than the obvious, he's the picture of health. I guess his Flames and this room are what saved him."

"His Flames saved him from death?"

"I have no idea how he came back after dying, but I'm fairly certain it was his Flames that repaired the damage to his body. His Rain Flame slowed down his bodily functions, his Storm Flame destroyed the damaged cells, his Cloud Flames propagated the healthy cells, and the ambient Sun Flames in this room used the new healthy cells to repair all of the damage to his body. In all of my years in the mafia, I've never seen a phenomenon like this."

"Then, why aren't his vocal cords healed?"

"Since the poison entered his body from the neck, the vocal cords were probably already destroyed by the time I administered the antidote, so there weren't any healthy cells to propagate."

"Can new ones be transplanted?"

"Not at his age. Even for me, operating on a child is risky. We'll have to wait until he's fully grown before I even consider transplanting new vocal cords."

"Fine with me. Is he fit for combat or not?"

Shamal rolled his eyes, comparing Xanxus to a kid at a candy store.

"Yes, he's recovered enough to start training at the very least. Now, both of you get your asses out of here. I don't want to have to look at you men any more than I have to."

Xanxus snorted. Usually, he would put a bullet through his brain for a rude comment like that, but Shamal was an asset, not to mention, he wanted to hurry up and test the kid, so he motioned for the kid to follow him and both of them left the room.

Shamal gathered up the data he had gathered on the kid and placed them in a file. Though his conduct towards women was somewhat questionable, he was still a professional. He paused when he made to write the kid's name on the side. Now that he thought about it, he still didn't know the kid's name. And it was unlikely he would ever get the kid's original name, considering all of his personal memories were gone.

Shamal shrugged. If Xanxus was going to recruit the kid, it was unlikely he wouldn't give him a name. He left the file on his desk, deciding to wait until the kid had a new name.

* * *

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Xanxus was conflicted. He had brought the boy down to the training room to test his combat skills. Usually, most people, like Sawada, would never bring a civilian child near weaponry, but Xanxus wasn't like most people. He wanted to recruit the kid, so he had to test him first. He had already passed the most important test, possessing Flames, with flying colors. Next was what the kid was going through right now, a test for skill with weaponry. And he had to say, he was impressed…and confused. He handed the kid a Glock and told him to shoot the targets at the target at the other end of the room. In a smooth flowing motion, the kid picked up the gun, removed the safety, which most kids wouldn't even know about, got into a proper shooting stance and fired without even flinching from the sound, as though he was doing it out of pure reflex, as though he had done this before and the technique had stuck with him, even after losing his memories.

But the problem was, even though, his stance was perfect, none of his shots were hitting the target, something that boggled Xanxus's mind and caused no end of frustration to the kid. He didn't show it on his face, except for his twitching eyebrow. That was something else that impressed Xanxus, his self-control. Most kids his age, even mafia-raised kids, would have thrown a tantrum by now.

Xanxus pondered as he continued to watch the kid try to shoot a target…and then facepalmed. He knew what the problem was. The target was set at a height meant for adult shooters, not kids that barely reached Xanxus's waist in height. It didn't help that the stance the kid was in was meant for targets of level height. Silently cursing, Xanxus adjusted the target.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Xanxus smirked when the boy started hitting the target dead center. He was right after all. The boy had potential. And obviously some training, though it was unlikely to have been from a member of the mafia, since his shooting was too clean. If he had been raised by mafia, he wouldn't be aiming for the center, he'd be aiming for vitals.

"That's enough."

The boy replaced the safety and lowered the Glock.

"Not bad. You have good aim for a kid." Xanxus complimented, something that was out of character for him, but what he felt was necessary to make the kid more comfortable and more approachable.

"…" The boy stared impassively at him, simply offering a nod as acknowledgement of the compliment. Xanxus frowned unnoticeably. This was the other problem. The boy was mute. A prerequisite for joining the Varia was the ability to speak at least 7 languages. If the boy wasn't mute, this problem could be easily addressed, but that was not the case.

Normally, Xanxus was all for breaking rules and regulations, especially Sawada's and his old man's, if only to get a laugh out of the headache that caused either of them. But, Xanxus absolutely detested breaking his own rules. His rules weren't made out of necessity, but more to make sure that the members of the Varia were all top quality. He didn't need any trash in his organization, not to mention most of the lower members were already trashy enough by his standards.

Breaking his rules was a sign of weakness, and if there was one thing Xanxus hated, it was weakness.

That was why he was in a conundrum. He didn't want to bend his rules, even if it was for a kid who had as much potential as the one in front of him. On the other hand, the kid had too much potential to waste. And there was no way in hell he was letting Sawada take him. Sawada and his guardians, while powerful, something even Xanxus admitted, were too soft. They didn't kill if they could help it, and that soft attitude was exactly what got other Famiglias, even allied ones, to wonder if the Vongola was finally about to expire. Though Sawada and his guardians did a good job beating all the idiots who attempted to claim Vongola's position at the top to within inches of their lives, they didn't kill a single one. They sliced, diced, burned, maimed, mangled, broke bones and traumatized them, but there wasn't a single casualty on the enemy side, something that irked Xanxus to no end. In fact, the only time he had seen Sawada kill was when the IS pilots attacked, and that was only because their attacks were so strong that the moment the Absolute Defense fell, the pilot would be killed as well. But, he wasn't the boss, something he was bitterly reminded of everyday, and thus he had no control over Sawada's actions. But there was no way in hell he was letting this kid become as soft as them. The kid lost all of his memories, and from what he had observed, his personality, morals and emotions were gone too. In other words, a complete blank slate. If Xanxus was a religious man, he would have interpreted this as a sign from God. As he was now, even he thought that this was a sign from the cosmos.

So, Xanxus decided to allow the boy in the Varia, if he managed to defeat at least 10 of the high-ranked members. Of course, Xanxus wasn't crazy enough to believe that the boy could take on 10 high-ranking members of the Varia the way he was now. Even if he did think of them as trash by his standards, even the weakest member of the Varia was considered superhuman. At the very least, he had to brush up the kid's combat skills, teach him how to access his Flames, get him suitable Rings and Box Weapons and teach him how to use them. A tall order, but not the hardest task Xanxus had ever taken on.

They had Box Weapons up the wazoo, thanks to their employment of three of the greatest minds in the mafia, one of which was one of the three inventors of the first 343 Animal Box Weapons, not to mention several hundred armament, storage, and God knows what other types of Boxes. The fact that they had an alliance with the other two inventors didn't hurt.

The boy had insanely powerful Flames, rivalling even the top-tier members, and his Cloud Flame was of a rank rivalling even Sawada's and his own Sky Flame and their Guardians' respective Flames, so once the kid got the hang of manifesting his Flames, there wouldn't be any foreseeable problems.

No, the problem was the Rings. High quality Rings were hard to come by, and the best Rings, like the Vongola Rings, Mare Rings and to a slightly lesser extent, the new Varia Rings, were all one-of-a-kind. The boy wasn't officially part of the Varia yet, so he couldn't give him the Cloud Varia Ring, and if he did, the members of the Varia that the kid would fight would probably try to make excuses and say that he only won because of the power of the Ring. So, he needed to get his hands on A-rank Cloud, Storm and Rain Rings. He remembered the fake Mare Rings from the whole Future fiasco that Sawada and his Guardians got caught up in, and wondered if the Mare Ring bastard still remembered where his future self got them. Xanxus grimaced, he didn't like owing favors, especially not to bastards like Byakuran, who would probably use them to force some demeaning role onto Xanxus for his own amusement. But, this was one of the times he was willing to swallow his pride. And if the Mare bastard tried to humiliate him, he would shoot him.

"VOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" A familiar, ear-splitting yell entered Xanxus's ears, causing him to scowl and wish he had something to throw. His second-in-command walked in, followed by the rest of his Guardians. It appeared that they heard the boy had been discharged.

"Shitty boss, how's the kid doing?"

"He's not bad. But, he's too clean and too green. He needs some touching up before I induct him into the Varia. Good timing, shitty shark. Test the kid's skill with a sword."

"What makes you think he can use a sword?"

"I don't. But, I want to get a general idea of the kid's skill set so I can train him properly."

"Fine by me." Squalo raised his hands. The shield-like Ring with the Varia logo engraved onto the blue gem set in the metal frame around the middle finger of his right hand lit up in a blue flame, which he inserted into the opening of a small blue box in his prosthetic left hand. The box opened, and an impossible number of swords, all too big to have fitted into the box, fell to the ground in a neat row.

"Take your pick! You can use any of the swords to fight me! I'll even let you switch swords if you want to!"

"…" The boy analyzed the swords, his eyes sweeping over the bunch. He picked up a katana, tested it in his hand and placed it back down. He picked another, shorter katana and rotated it in his hand, before he fell into a sword stance. In return, Squalo raised his left hand, his sword mounted on his left wrist. The rest of the Varia core members stood aside, giving them space for the spar. Both of them stood silently, trying to get the other to make the first move, Squalo out of a want to see the kid's potential as a swordsman, and the boy out of reflex and common sense, which was telling him that making the first move against a seasoned swordsman was suicide, even though it was a spar.

For a few moments, neither made a move. Then, Squalo charged forward, finally tired of waiting, and noting that the kid had good patience, an invaluable asset for a swordsman. Deciding not to use any of his techniques yet, Squalo swung his spatha down on the boy, who swung his katana upwards with, from what Squalo could see, all his might to parry the strike. It was only natural, Squalo was a fully grown trained assassin and swordsman while the kid was just that: a kid, who didn't remember shit about himself.

Squalo's spatha was knocked away, sparing the boy's life, but it appeared that the boy might have injured his right arm in the process by the way he was now favoring his left arm. Squalo went in for a thrust, which the boy sidestepped, having realized that trying to block any of Squalo's attacks was too risky, even if he was only being half-serious.

The boy closed in on Squalo, short enough to bend down and zip around Squalo's legs. This was a well-thought out strategy, Squalo realized. His spatha, while shorter than most blades, was still too long for him to swing around his own legs without the risk of wounding himself in the process. The kid was good at improvisation, he would give him that much, and that could prove to be either beneficial or suicidal in the mafia world. If this kid was joining their ranks as a Guardian, as Squalo could pretty much tell that was what Xanxus was planning, then he needed to be taught about battle strategy.

All of the Varia core members were strategists on some level, even the idiot Levi, who usually wouldn't even take a shit without Xanxus's permission. Maybe expecting a 10 year old to be able to strategize on the same level as the greatest assassins in the world was a bit much, but at the very least, he needed to be able to form basic strategies by his induction.

Squalo snapped back to reality when the kid stopped in his tracks and swung in katana upwards, aiming for his jaw. Squalo was about to raise his spatha to block when he noticed the absurd velocity of the swing. He hastily stepped back, and avoided having his jaw bisected, though he did get a small scratch on his chin.

"…_I've…seen that technique somewhere before. Where was it?" _Squalo thought back to the 100 swordsmen he had faced to secure his title as the second Sword Emperor. That didn't help much, that technique was too typical in eastern sword styles to pinpoint the specific style the kid was using.

He also wondered how the kid could be using a sword style considering he had apparently lost his memories. Was it out of reflex? If that was the case, he had to praise the kid for devoting himself to the sword at such a young age.

Squalo decided to push the kid a bit and got just a bit more serious, putting a miniscule bit more effort behind his swings, though to a child, it might have been a noticeable difference. The boy's eyes narrowed as it became more difficult to evade Squalo's attacks and moved in quickly for a downward swing aimed for Squalo's jaw, which he parried.

"_Dammit, it's on the tip of my tongue…"_

Squalo's eyes widened as he moved to the side when the kid followed up with a strike to his thigh with the hilt of the katana that was probably supposed to be for the abdomen if it wasn't for their height difference.

"_I remember now! This is…!"_

"Shinonono Itto-ryu…" Squalo muttered as he flashed back to the fight with one of the strongest eastern swordsman he had ever fought, Shinonono Ryuuin.

Squalo had met him in Japan five years ago, Ryuuin being the seventh swordsman he had sought out, right before the advent of the IS by Ryuuin's own elder daughter, Shinonono Tabane. Despite being a civilian, Ryuuin's skill with a sword and mastery of his family's sword style was far above even most of the mafia swordsmen Squalo had defeated. Their fight had of course, ended in Squalo's victory, but Ryuuin had managed what none of the other 99 swordsmen had managed. He had actually managed to wound Squalo, and so Squalo decided to spare him, unlike most of the other 99. He heard that Ryuuin was running a dojo that had to be closed down after the whole IS fiasco and Ryuuin, his wife and younger daughter were placed in a witness protection program while Shinonono Tabane became the world's most wanted person.

"_That technique just now was Shinonono Ittoryu: Onibi (lit. Demon Fire). The first technique was Shinonono Ittoryu: Mikazukigiri (lit. Cresent Moon Slash), and the second technique was Shinonono Ittoryu: Agitowari (lit. Jaw-splitting)…"_ Squalo thought to himself as he dodged the boy's sword thrust towards his chest. The boy was skilled for his age. Was he one of Ryuuin's students before the dojo closed?

If he remembered correctly, Shinonono Ittoryu had six techniques, in addition to its Ougi. He highly doubted that Ryuuin would teach Yae Tsubaki (lit. Eightfold Camellia), a swift eight stabs to the opponent's torso, the Ougi of his family's prized sword style to anyone outside of said family, so he had no need to be prepared for that. Still, that meant that there were still three techniques the boy had not yet used. He didn't need to worry about Ryodan (lit. Bisection), a downward slash that, when used correctly, could easily cut someone's body in half. The kid wasn't yet at a height where he could use Ryodan against Squalo.

Which meant he had to look out for telltale signs of the remaining two techniques: Raigeki (lit. Lightning Bolt), a swift slash aimed for the sides, and Hirameki (lit. Flash), a counter technique that was a swift and flowing switch from a parry to a diagonal slash. He also had to make sure to look out for signs that he would reuse the same techniques from before.

The fight continued, with Squalo being more careful now that he knew that the boy had studied under Shinonono Ryuuin. The boy seemed to pick up on that and adopted some more…underhanded techniques, something Squalo approved of, such as kicking at his legs, slashing at his legs, obviously trying to cut his tendons, though Squalo could easily avoid those. This was not a Kendo match, this was a battle between mafia, albeit a spar and one of the combatants a civilian. Underhanded techniques were legal, if not advocated.

But, Squalo knew that Ryuuin was an incredibly honorable person and would never condone such tactics, so the boy either picked them up from someone else, or he was improvising again. Either way, Squalo wasn't about to lose to a kid…again. So, he decided to get more serious. Moving faster than before, he forced the kid to switch completely to defense. As the kid was forced to evade strike after strike without a chance to get an attack in himself, Squalo could see the frustration building on his face and smirked. He was gonna lose his cool and make a mistake soon.

The kid knocked his spatha aside and followed up with a diagonal slash, aimed for Squalo's side.

"There it is! Shinonono Ittoryu: Hirameki!" Having seen the technique, used by someone with greater skill in fact, Squalo easily deflected it and shattered the katana in the process.

But, instead of panicking like Squalo knew most opponents would, the kid kept his cool and…threw the hilt of the broken katana at him like one of Belphegor's throwing knives. Squalo was surprised, but naturally deflected the hilt without any effort, but that gave the kid enough time to move back to the row of swords lying on the ground and pick up two wakizashis and two daggers. He threw them one by one at Squalo, who raised his eyebrow, trying to figure out the kid's aim while knocking all of the bladed projectiles aside. After deflecting the last of the projectiles, he caught sight of the kid rushing at him with a new katana in his right hand and three throwing knives in his left. As he closed in, he threw the three knives one by one at Squalo who was forced to block them, giving the kid time to close in and cut his torso with a high-velocity upward swing, the same technique he had first used, Shinonono Ittoryu: Mikazukigiri.

Having managed to take a step back right before the sword connected, Squalo only suffered a shallow cut. Still, he stared in surprise at the small cut on his chest that was bleeding slightly. He had honestly not expected the kid to be the first to draw blood in this spar. As his brain processed the information, his face broke into a wide, predatory grin, his face not unlike a shark's.

"…Vooooiiiiii…I'm really damn impressed, kid. Hey boss, does this mean I can stop holding back now!?"

"Do what you want. Just don't kill him." Xanxus answered. If possible, Squalo's grin seemed to widen even further.

"You did well, kid, but it's over!" Squalo's ring lit up with magnificent blue flames, much bigger than the ones he had used to open the box, filling the room and causing the kid's body to slowly become unresponsive, causing the boy to look down at his limbs in confusion when they responded slowly to his commands. Squalo's spatha was coated in said blue flames and Squalo fell into a stance, preparing to use one of his strongest sword techniques.

Slashing the air in front of him time and time again, Squalo appeared to be creating a vacuum in front of him simply through the use of his sword. Squalo charged at the boy, who tried to evade after recognizing the danger. Unfortunately, Squalo was too fast, and the Rain Flames had already slowed him down to a snail's pace.

"Scontro di Squalo!"

Without even a moment to prepare himself, Squalo's Rain Flame-coated spatha slashed the boy's torso dozens of times. The boy didn't even have time to register the pain before he lost consciousness and slumped to the ground, blood oozing from the dozens of cuts on his body.

Squalo extinguished his Flames and took a deep breath, the adrenaline finally fading from his system. He had to make sure to get a good katana for the kid. While not of low quality, the weapons in his Storage Box were not strong enough to be used in a real mafia battle.

"Lussuria, heal the kid, his test isn't over yet!" Xanxus ordered his flamboyant Sun Guardian, who did the same thing as he did the last time he had healed the boy. The Sun Peacock extended its tail feathers, bathing the wounded boy in Sun Flames.

"That was quite the fight, though personally, I don't think there was a need to use Scontro di Squalo." A new voice cut in. Xanxus scowled as Sawada Tsunayoshi and his Guardians, all of them this time, walked into the training room. There was a gleam in Hibari Kyoya, Sawada's Cloud Guardian's eyes that Xanxus recognized as anticipation. He realized that Hibari must have been watching the fight from the beginning and realized the boy's potential and was now regarding him as a future opponent. There was also a similar gleam in Rokudo Mukuro, Sawada's Mist Guardian's eyes that Xanxus did not like. Rokudo Mukuro was staring at the latest Varia prospect with a hungry look. Most likely thinking of taking control of the kid's body when he was older. Even now, after joining the Vongola, Rokudo Mukuro never lost his ambition of destroying the mafia, though it was heavily toned down compared to how he was in the past. Still, Xanxus never trusted Mukuro, and he was sure that no one else, except Sawada and Chrome Dokuro, the other Mist Guardian, did. Even Sawada, despite wishing to extend the same level of trust towards Mukuro, unconsciously mistrusted him, though it wasn't obvious at first glance. Chrome Dokuro did not count, as she was essentially Mukuro's better half.

Sawada had impeccable timing, Xanxus was about to reluctantly seek him out.

"Sawada, I need to…ask a favor of you." Xanxus forced the words out and mentally rolled his eyes at the looks of incredulity that everyone, save Sawada, was giving him.

"How interesting, what is this favor?"

"I need you to ask the Mare bastard something."

* * *

Let it never be said that Byakuran wasn't a man of his word. He was a manipulator, a psychopath, immature, uncaring to all but a select few, but he always kept his word, though if there were a loophole to be exploited, you could be sure he would milk for all it was worth. Luckily, Tsuna had made his terms very specific: sift through the memories he obtained from his future self and locate the fake Mare Rings he had given to Shouichi and the other False Six Funeral Wreaths. Give the Cloud, Storm and Rain Rings to the Vongola, without any tricks or unwanted surprises and the Vongola would owe him the Gesso Family a favor, though they would not comply with ridiculous requests like world domination and the like.

Byakuran sulked at the specifications, but had kept his word and had sent three simple-looking rings. Smooth oval gems connected to a simple metal band. Tests had shown that they were in fact the same rings that the future Byakuran had passed off as the Mare Rings. High-quality A-rank rings that had no mechanism to them like they did in the future where Byakuran could break them at will. The Storm and Rain Ring would serve the boy well, but Tsuna had his doubts about the Cloud Ring. The boy's Cloud Flame was above A-rank, and while Tsuna knew that A-rank rings, while not on the same level as the Tri-Ni-Sette, the Shimon Rings or the New Varia Rings, were incredibly durable, he wasn't certain the Cloud Ring could withstand such a powerful Flame. But, with some luck, the boy would not have to use it too often and by the time it did break, the boy would already have the Varia Cloud Ring.

And so, here they were. He and his Guardians in the training room, watching the Varia core members try to teach the boy who was wearing his three Rings on his index, middle and ring fingers how to light his Flames, and frankly, it was quite the amusing scene. The Varia, being who they were, never had any problems lighting their own Flames, but they soon found out that teaching someone else was a lot harder than it seemed. Dying Will Flames were powered by resolve, and most of the Varia's idea of resolve seemed to revolve around the emotion they most commonly feel. For Xanxus, it was resentment, hatred, anger, pretty much anything negative. For Levi, it was his jealousy for others and fanaticism towards Xanxus. For Mammon, it was his greed. For Belphegor, it was his antipathy. For Lussuria…the less said, the better. For Squalo, it was pride and loyalty.

To anyone else, they would probably be able to light their Flame after figuring out which emotion best described their resolve, but for a kid who had lost all concept of emotion, it was probably confusing at best. The only emotion the boy seemed to be able to register was irritation at himself for being unable to light a Flame.

After a while, the Varia seemed to give up. That was to be expected, it was too much to expect of a civilian child to light a Flame on his first try…

Then, Tsuna's Hyper Intuition seemed to pick up on something and he looked back at the boy to see him scowling heavily in frustration, his irritation building.

Then, gigantic quantities of Dying Will Flames seemed to spill forth from the rings, shocking everyone present, not just at their size, but also at their level of purity. Each Flame was almost transparent in appearance, a testament to their purity, and Tsuna had no doubt that each Flame was most definitely at least A-rank.

The boy's scowl faded and with it, his Flames. Xanxus was silent for a moment, and then spoke.

"I have no idea what you felt when you lit your Flames, but remember that feeling and engrave it into your heart. That is how you will light your Flames from now on, and they will serve as your greatest weapons."

The boy stared at Xanxus before nodding. It was at this point that Tsuna decided to speak up, eager to see the boy in action.

"Since the hardest part is over and done with, shouldn't we proceed? To find suitable Box Weapons for the boy, I mean."

Xanxus nodded, that was his intention from the beginning. That was why Irie Shouichi was waiting at the side. Seeing that it was his turn, the young genius stepped forth and handed a tablet to him.

"I don't think anyone had explained to you yet, but Box Weapons are the pinnacle of technological weaponry in the mafia world. Using Dying Will Flames, like the ones you just lit, you can activate them and utilize their incredible power. You have Cloud, Storm and Rain Flames, so I've prepared a catalog of Box Weapons available for each of those attributes. Pick any of them, it'll automatically be brought out of quantum conversion." Shouichi spoke in a professional, but complicated manner, apparently having forgotten that the person he was speaking to was a child. Still, the boy did not seem to have any questions, apparently understanding the gist of Shouichi's explanation. The boy slowly scrolled down the list, starting with the Storm list. He paused at a peculiar name that seemed to spark curiosity in him, 'Sistema C.A.I. Prototype Box No.1'. He pressed down on the touch screen, and in front of him, a red Box appeared in the air which he caught in his palm.

"Oh, that's a Sistema C.A.I. Prototype that we were trying to recreate from Gokudera-kun's."

Hayato perked up at this, curious at what was inside the box. The boy recalled his feeling of irritation and concentrated it at his index finger, where his Storm Ring was. A flame with a red core, surrounded by a red-white inner layer with crimson edges lit and he pressed it into the opening of the Box. The box popped open and a red light shot up into the air, turned and landed in the boy's right hand. The light faded, and in the boy's hand…was a gun resembling a Beretta M9, with its magazine missing.

Hayato raised his eyebrow.

"A gun with no ammo?"

"Don't worry. This gun functions similarly to Xanxus's X-Guns. It compresses its user's Storm Flame into a solid bullet. Go ahead and try to fire it." Shouichi reassured the boy who was staring dubiously at the weapon. The boy raised the gun after checking for a safety lock, which typically did not exist on Box Weapons, and fired at the far wall of the training room.

*BAM*

A red-bullet that looked like it was on fire shot out from the barrel and left a smooth circular hole in the wall. Tsuna was surprised. The walls in the training room were meant to be able to resist all but the strongest Flames. The compressed Flame bullet actually possessed that much power…

"That isn't all to the prototype, there are also support boxes for each attribute. Here are the ones for Cloud and Rain..." The boy's demonstration appeared to have peaked Shouichi's scientific curiosity. The next few minutes were spent experimenting with the support Boxes. Rain and Cloud Cartridges for the Storm Gun that weakened defenses multiplied the bullets mid-flight respectively and Flame Shields similar to Hayato's Bone Loops, adding Rain Flames to increase its defense and Cloud Flames to increase the number of shielding layers, and also how only the outer side of the shield had defensive capabilities and thus making it possible to fire shots through the inner side of the shield. It was after a while, when Shouichi showed no signs of moving on that Tsuna coughed.

"Shouichi-kun, this Box Weapon is interesting and all, but aren't you forgetting the most important part? The Box Animals."

Among the all of the Box types, it was the general consensus that the Box Animals were the most useful, something Tsuna agreed with wholeheartedly. Shouichi scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh, of course! How could I forget?" Shouichi switched the screen over to the Box Animal catalog and allowed the boy to look through. It didn't take long for the boy to choose his first Box Animal. He pressed down on the name 'Tigre Tempesta' and another red Box appeared in his hand. Doing the same thing as before, he pointed the Box's lid in front of him after injecting Storm Flames. The lid opened, and a massive red light shot out and landed on the ground, fading to reveal a massive tiger with Storm Flames at the tip of its tail and ears, growling ferociously at…well, pretty much everything. Takeshi and Squalo readied their Rain Flames in case the massive feline attacked.

But, instead of attacking, the Storm Tiger stared at the one who released it. The boy stared back impassively, not frightened by the massive predator eyeballing him. Then, after a few tense moments, the Tiger opened its massive jaws, as though to swallow the boy whole. Takeshi and Squalo prepared to move in, but then the Tiger did something unexpected. It started licking the boy's head affectionately, purring the entire time while the boy rubbed its ears. Everyone, save Hayato, Belphegor and Shouichi, looked dumbfounded while the aforementioned three nodded their heads, as though they had been expecting this.

"It's not a well-known fact, but Storm Animals are aggressive towards everything except their owners, who they're very affectionate towards."

"But, Uri always attacks Hayato, doesn't he?" Takeshi asked his fellow Guardian.

"It took me a while to figure it out, but that's Uri's way of showing affection." Hayato shrugged in response. They bore witness to the rather strange sight, until the injected Flames ran out and the Storm Tiger returned to its Box, while the boy started looking through the Rain Animal list, as though he hadn't just been licked by a Storm Flame-enhanced predator easily thrice his height in length.

Making his next choice, the boy pressed down on the name 'Aquila di Pioggia'. A blue Box materialized in his hand. Injecting a strong Rain Flame into the Box, the boy held it out and a blue light shot out of the Box and flew up to the boy's shoulder, fading to reveal a Philippine Eagle coated in Rain Flames, perched proudly and staring at its surroundings with sharp eyes. The boy reached up with a hand to gently scratch its head, and the massive eagle nipped his ear gently in return.

It too soon returned to its Box and the boy started his search for a Cloud Animal. But this time, the search went on for a long time, but the boy did not seem to find a Box Animal that he liked. That is, until he reached the end of the list. That's when the very last name on the list gave him pause. 'Serpente di Nuvola'. Shouichi groaned.

"I was hoping he wouldn't get to that one."

"Is there a problem with it?" Tsuna asked.

"Yeah, for some reason, it keeps attacking its owner, that's why there've been so many visitors to the infirmary lately. I was going to ask Hibari-kun to try and open its Box to see if he could control it..."

A soft thud caused Shouichi to pause. While he was explaining, the boy had already brought the Box out of quantum conversion and opened it.

"Hey, didn't you hear a word I said!?"

A purple light shot out of the Box and landed on the ground. However, it immediately struck at the boy, who sidestepped and caught it in its hand as it passed him by. The purple light faded to reveal a large black snake, hissing furiously at the boy who just stared at it emotionlessly.

"See? You better return it to its Box before it-" Shouichi was cut off when the black snake hissed and started expanding, forcing the boy to let go of it.

"Oh boy." Shouichi muttered as a massive black snake, its tail coated in Cloud Flames, stared down balefully at them. Everyone readied their weapons in preparation for a fight, but the one who made the first move was the boy, who had opened the Sistema C.A.I. Prototype Boxes. Loading a Rain Cartridge into the Storm Gun, The boy took aim and fired at the snake's head. The Rain Flame-coated Storm Bullet connected with the Cloud Snake's head, but as expected of a Box Animal of that size, it didn't seem to be fazed. The snake flicked its tongue, opened its jaws wide and shot at the boy, who had already brought out the Flame Shields. The snake crashed into the shield, prevented from reaching the boy, who switched the Rain Cartridge for the Cloud Cartridge and fired through the shields, straight into the snake's mouth, where the bullet multiplied and exploded. Reeling from the force of the explosions, the snake hissed furiously as smoke spewed copiously from its mouth. However, it seemed otherwise unharmed. Everyone else hung back, curious as to how the boy would handle this.

Seeing that Sistema C.A.I. alone would not be enough, the boy lit his Storm and Rain Rings and released the Storm Tiger and Rain Eagle. The Storm Tiger roared at its opponent as the Rain Eagle flew overhead, showering the Cloud Snake in Rain Flames. The Cloud Snake hissed at its avian opponent and snapped at it, but with its bodily functions slowed down by Rain Flames, it did not come close to catching blindingly fast Box Animal.

The boy nodded to the Storm Tiger next to him, who opened its jaws and clamped down on the boy's collar, throwing its head back to lift the boy onto its back. As the slowing Cloud Snake tried to snatch the Rain Eagle out of the air, the Storm Tiger leapt forward onto the snake's body, sinking its claws in to prevent itself from falling off as the snake hissed in pain and tried to shake it off. The tiger quickly moved along the snake's body, stopping near its head. The boy leapt off the tiger's back and landed right on top of the snake's head, his Storm Gun pointed down at the skull. At the same time that boy opened fire at point blank range, the Storm Tiger tore at the Cloud Snake's body with Storm Flame-coated claws and the Rain Eagle pecked at the Cloud Snake's eyes. As the Cloud Snake roared in pain under the combined assault, its body slowly began to shrink. The Storm Tiger snatched up the boy and leapt off the shrinking Cloud Snake while the Rain Eagle flew back down to the boy's shoulder. The Cloud Snake, returned to its normal size, lay defeated on the ground, its injuries too extensive for it to continue fighting. The boy approached its prone form and knelt down beside, offering a hand out to it. The Cloud Snake weakly lifted its head and flicked its forked tongue at the offered hand, tasting the boy and seemed to bow its head low in submission.

"T-That Cloud Snake…actually acknowledged someone as its master…" Shouichi muttered.

"It appears there wasn't any problem with the snake itself. That's simply its personality: it will not acknowledge someone weaker than itself as its master. That's why it attacked anyone who opened the Box, as a test." Tsuna drew a conclusion from what he had just seen.

"Haaaa, what a troublesome Box. But I'm glad it's finally found a master." Shouichi sighed in relief now that he didn't have to deal with the Cloud Snake anymore.

"I think the boy has enough Box Weapons. Now then, we can start his training…" Xanxus started, but was then interrupted.

"But before that, would you mind doing me a favor?"

Out of the shadows, Kawahira appeared, causing everyone present, even the boy who did not know Kawahira, to tense.

"Like I said before, there's a theory I'd like to confirm. But to do that, we need to take a little trip. Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun, would you mind calling the Shimon Famiglia? I'll need their help with this experiment. Of course, I need you and your Guardians as well."

"That's fine with me, but where are we going?" Tsuna asked cautiously, not really comfortable with the idea of Kawahira taking an interest in the boy.

"Vendicare Prison."

* * *

That had not been a pleasant trip. The first factor being that temperatures near the main Vendicare Prison were below freezing. Even with thick winter clothing on, Tsuna and the others, which included Reborn, the Shimon Famiglia and the Varia, who were unwilling to let their new prospect out of their sight, could still feel the chill in their bones. Strangely, the boy did not seem to be bothered by the cold and merely stared at the snowy landscape unimpressed, as though he had been some place colder before.

But, that wasn't the main problem. He couldn't believe that Kawahira actually had the nerve to go anywhere near the Vindice, and evidently, the Vindice themselves didn't think so either. The moment the sentries saw Kawahira, they almost went berserk and attacked him. Of course, Kawahira, being an original Earthling capable of producing many times more Flames than Tsuna could muster in Ultimate Dying Will Mode as simply as he breathed, crushed them quite easily and waltzed in through the gate, Tsuna and the others staring at him incredulously as they followed him. The entire way to the inner sanctum, Kawahira was attacked by Vindice seeking revenge, though he always made short work of them. Then, he barged into the inner sanctum, where Bermuda and the seven strongest Vindice were maintaining the containers that took the place of the Arcobaleno Pacifiers.

Naturally, Bermuda, being the one person who despised Kawahira more than anyone else in the world, did not take kindly to his presence, and only complied with his requests because he knew that he was outmatched by Kawahira.

It was at that moment that Kawahira explained the details of his little experiment. He wished for the Tsuna and his Guardians, Enma and his Guardians, and Bermuda to fire all 16 types of Dying Will Flames at the boy who will counter with the new Flame. Since the new Flame was the opposite and equivalent to the 16 Dying Will Flames put together, Kawahira wished to see what would happen if they clashed. Personally, Tsuna thought he was crazy, and definitely did not like the idea of endangering the boy by firing Dying Will Flames at him, but complied when Kawahira said the blasts didn't have to be particularly big, just big enough to be observable.

The boy tapped into his Flames, but only summoned his three Dying Will Flames at first, but after some prodding from Kawahira, managed to summon a small ball of black Flame with gold flakes and tossed it up into the air where it stayed airborne.

Tsuna started things off by firing small balls of Sky and Dawn Flames, each the same size as the ball of black Flame floating in the air and was surprised when the ball of black Flame expanded and consumed his Flames, leaving no trace of them behind. Tsuna noted that the size of the black Flame had diminished slightly.

Then, his Guardians followed suit and fired balls of their own respective Dying Will Flames at the black Flame which quickly consumed them, its size diminishing all the while. Then, Enma and his Guardians did the same with the Seven Dying Will Flames of the Earth. By the time the black Flame had consumed Mizuno Kaoru's River Flame, the black Flame was already greatly diminished, almost invisible in the dimly lit chamber. Bermuda ended the experiment by firing his Flame of the Night at the black Flame. The black Flame consumed the Flame of the Night, but flickered out of existence immediately after.

Then, Kawahira had the boy use the black Flame on several materials, including a patch of human flesh and a bone. All of the materials had immediately rotted, not incinerated.

For a moment, there was silence as everyone present processed what had just occurred, and Tsuna felt that 'Flame of Death' was quite the appropriate name. Then, the boy collapsed like a marionette that had its strings cut. Reborn went to examine him and found that the boy exhibited symptoms of starvation response, his body fat stores having been mysteriously depleted. Kawahira concluded that the Flame was so powerful that it required huge amounts of energy just to use those small burst of Flames and warned them not to let the boy use the Flame too often, or he would die, saying that once a month would be the most he would be able to do without endangering himself. Then, Kawahira disappeared, literally, from the prison, as mysteriously as he appeared in the Vongola Mansion. Tsuna and the others quickly cleared out, not wanting to incur the ire of the Vindice any further than they already had.

The boy's condition was easily sorted out with food and sleep. To their surprise and amusement, the boy ate almost six times the amount that an ordinary person would eat, though it shouldn't be that surprising considering that his body was running on fumes at that point.

Soon after, the boy's training began. Xanxus, while a harsh taskmaster, was a very effective trainer. He had not let up on the boy at all, subjecting him to some of the harshest training regimes Tsuna had ever seen, and he had trained under Reborn. The very first training Xanxus had put the boy through was light enough. Xanxus taught him combat theory, teaching things like how to aim for vitals, the locations of tendons and major arteries in a body, shooting stances and taking advantage of the terrain. Then came the harder ones, like survival and evasion training. Xanxus left the boy in extreme climates and told him to survive for a full 24 hours with no assistance, tools or even clothes, all the while being hunted by several Box Animals and snipers. Tsuna had almost gone ballistic when he heard about it, but was shocked to find that the boy had indeed survived, killing local wildlife to eat, finding shelters in natural formations, brawling with Box Animals and learning to blend in with the surroundings. The boy was resilient if nothing else.

Then Xanxus put the boy through starvation and dehydration training. The Varia took on an assortment of missions, and there was a good chance they wouldn't get food or water for days. Tsuna had his doubts about this training, especially considering the boy had just recovered from massive energy depletion. But like before, the boy had gotten through without any problems.

And then, Xanxus said, and Tsuna quoted, 'Playtime is over'. The harshest part had just begun. The next training was…torture resistance. Tsuna definitely did not like the sound of this training. Xanxus used various torture techniques on the boy. Of course, he started with the simpler and more manageable ones to build the boy's endurance and resilience first. Then he moved on to the much more painful ones. Tsuna flinched when he saws the boy enduring an electric chair. Of course, Tsuna himself had an electric chair used on him, courtesy of Reborn, though even Reborn did not repeatedly shock him several times in a row, nor did he increase the voltage. Tsuna was sure that the boy was going to end up frying, but incredibly, the boy gritted his teeth and refused to break even after a dozen consecutive electric shocks. If it was someone like Lambo, who possessed unnaturally high levels of resistance towards electric shocks, Tsuna wouldn't have been surprised, but to see a ten-year-old do the same caused Tsuna to marvel…and wonder what kind of crazy background this kid came from to have that level of resilience. For an instant, Tsuna feared that Xanxus would have the kid go through sexual assault resistance too, but even Xanxus wasn't that cruel, noting that it was unlikely that males would be sexually assaulted, though there were always one or two deviants like a certain flamboyant Varia Sun Guardian he could think of, though personally, Tsuna didn't think that said person would actually go that far.

The final part was of course, combat training and it was all of the Varia core members who personally fought the boy one on one. They had started out as one-sided victories on the Varia's part at first, but the boy slowly grew used to their techniques and was able to last longer and longer, learning how to adopt their techniques for his own use, up until Xanxus decided to let Bester, the Sky-Storm Liger, out to play. The first time Bester was brought into the fight, if the boy had not managed to open the Storm Tiger's Box, Bester would have mauled him. As it were, Bester alone easily overpowered both of them with its brutality and Harmonization. Realizing it was near impossible to defeat Bester with Dying Will Flames or with his own power, the boy did his best to evade Bester and attack Xanxus instead. Xanxus still crushed him quite effortlessly now that the boy could not use Dying Will Flames without Bester petrifying them. The other core members followed suit and released their Box Animals, and the boy found himself har pressed to keep up with them and the new techniques available to them now that they were using their Box Animals. Still, he had done pretty well for a ten-year-old civilian and after a month of Xanxus's harsh training, Tsuna was certain that none of the Varia members aside from Xanxus and his Guardians could match him. Xanxus seemed to think so as well, since he announced that the boy was now ready to take the last test.

Summoning all of the Varia to the training ground, he announced the boy's recruitment into the Varia and appointment as the Cloud Guardian, despite his inability to speak. As Xanxus expected, the ranks were dissatisfied, thinking it was deliberate favoritism. Of course they stopped when Xanxus said that the boy would have to pass an extra test first. When the Varia heard that the kid was to defeat 10 high-ranking members, half of them cracked up while the other half looked dubious, obviously thinking that it was impossible for a ten-year-old to defeat 10 of the best assassins in the world. Then they were shocked into silence when Xanxus chose the 10 strongest Varia members, outside of the core members of course, to be the child's opponent. That's when they realized that Xanxus was serious, and he had full confidence that the boy would win. So, all the members of the Varia stood aside to give the 11 room for their fight.

The ten Varia members lit their Rings and readied their Box Weapons while the boy did the same with his Storm Ring and drew the Storm Tiger's Box from the Box holster secured to his belt. Tsuna noted that the 10 high-ranking Varia members consisted of three Storm Flames users, two Rain Flame users, two Sun Flame users, and one user for Lightning, Cloud and Mist. All 11 combatants inserted their lit Rings into their Boxes at the same time. There was a flash multicolored light as the 11 Boxes opened and released their contents. The light died down and Tsuna saw that out of the 10 Varia members, one Storm user, one Rain user, both Sun users and the Mist user had released their Box Animals, while the rest released Flame-coated weapons.

The Storm Tiger roared at the enemy Box Animals: a Storm Coyote, a Heavy Rain Elephant, a swarm of Sun Hercules Beetle, a Sun Stag and a swarm of Mist Moths. The Mist Moths ascended and flapped their wings, spreading sparks of Mist Flames throughout the area. The 10 Varia members disappeared, masked by an illusion.

Unperturbed, the boy signaled to the Storm Tiger who roared, emitting an omnidirectional wave of Storm Flames, destroying the illusion in an instant and killing the Mist Moths, revealing the 10 Varia members surrounding him. The Storm Coyote howled and pounced on the boy, but the Storm Tiger intercepted it and bit down on its neck. The Storm Coyote yowled in pain as Storm Flames seeped from its wounds. Its owner was forced to return it to its Box and bring out his weapons instead.

Meanwhile, the other two Storm users attacked the boy with their weapons, a sword and a halberd respectively. The boy recognized that they were fast, much faster than any ordinary human, but Xanxus was much faster, so much that the boy, who had sparred with him for almost a month, perceived his two attackers to be slow as snails. Lighting his Rain Ring and inserting it into a Rain Box on his holster, a katana wreathed in Rain Flames appeared in his hands. Slashing the tendons in their arms with a horizontal cut, both attackers were quickly incapacitated once they had fallen to the ground with a swift kick to their craniums, knocking them out cold.

Then the boy found himself inexplicably soaked. No, not soaked exactly. The Heavy Rain Elephant was drenching him with Rain Flame with its trunk. With his body slowing down and unable to react properly, the boy was cornered when the third Storm user, along with the other Rain user and the Lightning use attacked him with a scythe, a sword and a gun respectively. Thinking fast, the boy moved as fast as he could and opened a Storm Box. The Flame Shields surrounded him and protected him from the three weapons. Next, he lit his Cloud Ring to the maximum and pumped the absurd amount of Flames into the Cloud Snake's Box, intending to give it as much power as he could. He heard an odd sound, akin to glass breaking, but ignored in favor of paying attention to the fight. The serpent started growing rapidly the moment it left its Box and wrapped its elongated body around the Heavy Rain Elephant, which had been charging at the kid. The elephant trumpeted in agony as its bones began to break as the snake tightened its hold. The owner shivered at his Box Animal's pain, fear written not only on his face, but on the others' as well.

"That's…the Cloud Snake!? The one that always attacks anyone who opens its Box!? To think it's actually obeying a kid of all people!" The Lightning user cried out in fear. He jumped when he heard a ferocious roar behind him, and turned around to see a huge paw coming at him. Knocked unconscious by the Storm Tiger, the Lightning user slumped to the ground, the third of the 10 Varia members to be defeated.

The remaining seven composed themselves and regrouped, needing to think of a new strategy to counter the unexpected combat prowess of their diminutive opponent. The Mist user once again concealed them with an illusion, this time one of his own creation, but before the Storm Tiger could destroy it, it was suddenly knocked aside by a great force. Near the spot where the Storm Tiger had been standing, the boy saw a spatial distortion that disappeared before he could make a move. The Heavy Rain Elephant had disappeared, either concealed by the illusion or returned to its Box. Considering that the Cloud Snake could not detect any large opponent with any of its highly acute senses, the boy was inclined to believe the latter. Off to the side, the boy caught sight of the Storm Tiger fighting against invisible opponents. So they weren't going to give the Storm Tiger enough time to muster enough Flames to destroy the illusion. A smart move, but ultimately naïve. Naturally, the Storm Tiger was not the only one who could unveil illusions.

Lighting his Rain Ring, he released his last Box Animal from its Box. The Rain Eagle soared overhead, pouring Rain Flames down on them. Through the Flames, the boy could see distortions in space where the illusion had become too slow to blend in with the surroundings. The boy lit his Storm Ring and opened Sistema C.A.I.'s core Box. The Storm Gun fell into his hand, and the boy fired in the direction of the spatial distortions. The distortions grew bigger as the bullets hit their mark, wounding and slowing his opponents down and giving the Storm Tiger enough time to muster strong enough Flames to destroy the illusion once more. Recognizing that the Mist user was probably the biggest threat, the boy shot him in the knee caps the moment he was revealed and pistol whipped him into unconsciousness. Without a Mist user, the remaining Varia members no longer had a way of keeping out of a direct confrontation. With the concept of 'the first to strike wins' in their minds, the 6 combatants attacked the boy at the same time, flying at him with their Dying Will Flame Boots. A fatal mistake when they couldn't turn away in time when the massive Cloud Snake came to its owner's defense and swallowed the two Sun users and the Sun Stag whole in one bite. The Storm Tiger and Rain Eagle also swooped in, both attacking the swarm of Sun Hercules Beetles, the Rain Eagle stopping them from flying away while the Storm Tiger destroyed them with a powerful roar.

With his Box Animals keeping his opponents at bay, the boy opened the last Cloud Box on his holster, releasing the Cloud Cartridge and loading it into the Storm Gun. With only 4 combatants, a Storm user, both Rain users and a Cloud user, remaining and all beginning to panic, the boy could easily pick them off one by one. He started with the Cloud user, the one who had made any major moves during the battle. Not wanting to take any chances in case he had some kind of ace in the hole that could turn the tables on him, the boy noted that his Ring was on his right hand, aimed at his right shoulder and fired. The Cloud Flame-coated Storm Bullet multiplied right before the impact and the sheer force of the shots sheared his arm off. Now that he no longer had a Ring, he couldn't use his Boxes. The Cloud user screamed in agony as he clutched at the stump. He was mercifully knocked into unconsciousness by the Cloud Snake's tail and slumped to the ground, blood still pouring from his wound. At that rate, he would die of exsanguination, so the boy decided to speed things up.

The boy signaled to his Box Animals, and the Cloud shot forward towards the 3 remaining opponents, elongating itself with the Cloud Flame's Propagation. It coiled itself around them, trapping them in a prison of flesh. The boy closed the prison with a Flame Shield, placing on top of the coiled Cloud Snake with the outer side facing down, sealing the three inside. The boy finished things off by opening his last Storm Box and releasing a grenade. Just an ordinary concussion grenade. If he infused it with Storm Flames, he would most definitely kill them. At least with just a normal grenade, they had a good chance of surviving. They may not be Guardians, but they were only second to the core members in power. The boy removed the pin and tossed the grenade up through the Flame Shield's inner side. The grenade fell into the makeshift prison and a second later, it exploded, though the Cloud Snake held firm, not even flinching from the force of the explosion. The Cloud Snake uncoiled to reveal the three combatants, all unconscious with light burns on their bodies. It appeared that the Rain users attempted to block the explosion, but were unable to muster enough Flames in time. Still, that act had saved their lives.

The Cloud Snake regurgitated the two Sun users it had previously swallowed. The Sun Stag must have returned to its Box. The three Box Animals and the Sistema C.A.I. components returned to their Boxes, and the boy stood silently among the unconscious bodies of the ten strongest Varia members aside from the core members, without so much as a scratch on his person. The rest of the Varia stared at him in shock and fear, while Xanxus and the core members nodded, already expecting this result from the beginning.

"Any complaints?" Xanxus asked his shell-shocked subordinates sarcastically. All of them shook their heads simultaneously and Xanxus snorted.

"Then leave. You're dismissed." Xanxus left, signaling for the boy to follow and his Guardians following behind.

* * *

The Varia core members were gathered in Xanxus's office. Xanxus lit his Ring and opened his wall safe. He removed a box from inside and opneded it, revealing the last of the Varia Rings, the Varia Cloud Ring. Xanxus presented it to his newest and youngest Guardian.

"This Ring is still incomplete since we still need to integrate your Cloud Box Animal into it, but it's yours now. Take it."

The boy removed the Fake Mare Cloud Ring and set down on Xanxus's table. Xanxus noticed for the first time that there was a big crack along the Cloud gem's surface, bisecting the jewel, looking as though the lightest touch would shatter it. It was just as Sawada predicted, a mere A-rank Ring would not be able to withstand the power of the boy's beyond A-rank Cloud Flame, unofficially known as S-rank. He said unofficially because while A to D-rank Rings had fixed limits to how powerful a Flame they could withstand, beyond A-rank Rings like the Tri-Ni-Sette, the Shimon Rings and the Varia Rings, though the latter was still slightly inferior to the rest even though Talbot had done his best to overcome the difference, had no known limit to how powerful a Flame they could channel, mostly because there wasn't anyone with a powerful enough Flame to overpower the legendary Rings. Another factor was that the number of people with above A-rank Flames was incredibly few when compared to the size of the underworld. The only ones Xanxus could name off the top of his head were he and his Guardians, Sawada and his Guardians, the Arcobaleno, the Mare bastard and his Guardians, Kozato Enma and his Guardians, Bermuda von Veckenschtein and his old man, though the geezer was probably going to kick the bucket soon. The rest of the Vindice didn't count since they couldn't produce their own Flames and had to acquire Flames from Bermuda directly.

The boy slipped the Varia Cloud Ring onto his finger. It was a bit big since the Ring was the same as the rest of the adult-sized Varia's, but that could easily be fixed by Talbot, for a price of course.

"Heh, welcome to the team, kid, but don't think your training is gonna be any easier from now on! If anything, it'll only get harder!"

"Ushishishi, be honored. You're on the same team as a prince."

"I don't really care. Just be sure to help bring a lot of money."

"Ohohoho! Don't worry, Onee-san will be sure to spoil you."

"Carry yourself as a proud member of the Varia, and don't do anything to disgrace Boss's name."

The other members offered their own strange form of welcome to him. Meanwhile, Xanxus was in thought. Now that the boy was a part of his team, he couldn't keep referring to him as 'boy' or 'kid'. Xanxus grimaced as he tried to think of a name. Even Xanxus had to reluctantly admit that he didn't have the best naming sense in the world. Even now, he thought that Bester wasn't the best name he could have come up with for his Box Animal, but the Sky-Storm Liger, its own personality being identical to Xanxus's, seemed to like it, so it stuck.

As Xanxus struggled to come up with a good name that wouldn't make the Varia the laughing stock of the mafia world, a familiar, but not necessarily welcome visitor walked in.

"Oh, I heard that you were personally scouting someone for the Varia, but I didn't think it was true, or that it was someone so young."

Xanxus scowled as Timoteo Vongola, the retired Vongola Nono and Sawada's predecessor, as well as Xanxus's adoptive father walked into the office. Two months ago, just a few weeks before Xanxus met the boy, Timoteo's health had taken a turn for the worse, and he was forced to step down as Vongola Nono, and Sawada, who was actually about to begin attending university, had to take his place as Vongola Decimo much earlier than expected. It wasn't like Timoteo was in danger of dying or anything, though he was definitely reaching the end of his lifespan, he had to retire from the frontlines and take a backseat. News must have reached Timoteo's ears that Xanxus had personally scouted someone for the Varia and came to visit out of curiosity.

Timoteo knelt down on a knee to look at the boy eye-to-eye.

"I heard from Tsunayoshi-kun that you not lost all personal memories, but was also rendered mute by a poison. Is it true?"

The boy nodded in response. Timoteo frowned momentarily, and then smiled gently.

"I see. In that case, would you like me to give you a name?"

The boy blinked, and turned to Xanxus, who shrugged.

"Go ahaead. The kid needs a name, and your naming sense is better than mine."

Timoteo brought his hand up to his chin, thinking for a moment. The, he smiled and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Salvatore. From now on, you will be Salvatore Vongola, my newest and youngest son."

The boy, as well as the Varia core members, save Xanxus who rolled his eyes, thinking it was just like the old man, looked stunned. Then, the boy smiled slightly, the first real expression of emotion that Xanxus had seen other than frustration from the boy. Xanxus felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. So, the kid would be his little brother from now on. Not exactly an unpleasant thought, though he would never say it out loud.

Unknown to the world, Orimura Ichika had died. And on that day, Salvatore Vongola, Vongola Nono's adopted son and the Cloud Guardian of the Varia, was born.

* * *

(Five years later)

Orimura Chifuyu slumped into the couch in the living room of her house. Yet another wasted day of testing a bunch of brats on their fundamental ability to pilot the world's most lethal weapon in preparation for their possible entrance into the world's most prestigious educational institution. Yet another day she could have used to search for missing brother.

The past five years had been a living hell for her. Her heart had almost stopped when she got the call from Ichika's kidnappers, demanding that she drop out of the finals in exchange for her brother's life. Of course, she had done so without a second thought, but the kidnappers didn't keep their end of the deal. So, in her desperation, she asked the German military for help in exchange for teaching their IS pilots for a year. The German military used all of their resources to search for the kidnappers, and located a place where a couple of men with a boy matching Ichika's description in tow were seen, and several other locations where the same men were seen, but without the boy. She personally flew to each location with her IS, Kurezakura, and she found traces of Ichika having been there at some point, but he was already long gone each time. The trail went cold at Osaka Bay. The kidnappers had done their research and purposely picked a day where a large number of ships would depart from the port at roughly the same time. As such, there weren't any reliable witnesses who could say for sure which ship they had boarded.

The German military did a good job of finding out where each ship was headed to, and Chifuyu ended up visiting most of Asia, and even some parts of Europe, with no result. Then, a few days later, the German military found out that there was a ship that set sail on the same day that wasn't on the manifest. They traced it to Italy with satellite imaging, but there was no guarantee that that was the ship they had boarded and the trail had long gone cold, and Chifuyu never saw Ichika again.

Even so, Chifuyu didn't give up and searched most of Asia, chasing every lead no matter how small, all the way to the point that she suddenly collapsed and was hospitalized. She spent the next year taking it easy as the doctor ordered, teaching the German soldiers about piloting an IS, as she had agreed in exchange for their help, even though Ichika had not been found. Once that was done, she wanted to get back to searching, but the government ordered her to become a teacher at IS Academy. Even she wasn't crazy enough to defy the government's orders, so she had reluctantly agreed. Teaching a bunch of fangirls, most of which had no real talent in piloting an IS, had to be one of the most painful experiences of her life, below losing Ichika. She used her vacation days to chase down new leads or just search possible locations, but she had not come close to finding him.

There were times she had actually contemplated suicide. Ichika was the sole light in her life, especially after the whole fiasco with her so-called family, from which she had managed to escape from with Ichika.

She wondered if the kidnapping was their doing. She wouldn't put it past them, but if it were them, they would have done it in a flashy manner to let her know it was them and that she could do nothing about it.

She sighed and cracked open the can of cold beer in her left hand, switching on the television with the remote in her right.

"…And this concludes the news coverage for now. We'll see you again later for the late night news…"

Oh, looks like she had missed the 6 o'clock news. She took a sip of her beer and switched to another country's news channel, something made possible by Tabane's modifications to the television. There wasn't really anything interesting happening around the world, or she thought until she got to Italy's news channel.

"**Breaking news! Right here in Italy, a male, yes a male IS pilot has been discovered! We now turn to our field correspondent, Carmela Moretti, who was lucky enough to secure an interview with the only known male IS pilot in the world! Carmela?"**

Chifuyu was fluent in most languages due to her being a teacher in the only IS school in the world, so she was able to understand the gist of what the Italian news caster was saying, and the parts that she couldn't understand, well, that's what subtitles are for.

Chifuyu was surprised. Due to her…friendship, I guess it could be called, with Shinonono Tabane herself, she knew more about the IS than anyone else in the world, save the creator herself, and thus she knew that the ISs rejecting males as pilots was not something that Tabane had done on purpose, but was an unexpected setting that even Tabane couldn't explain. So, it was surprising that there was a male that could pilot an IS. She was a bit interested in the story, so she turned up the volume and took another sip of her beer. The news transitioned to the field correspondent, a young blonde woman, who appeared to be in an office of some sort.

"**Thank you, Cesare. I am with the sole male IS pilot in the world, Mr…Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." The young reporter held her microphone to her right, and the camera shifted to focus on the male.**

*Pffffffffffffffffft*

Chifuyu spat her beer all over the table as she did a double take when she saw the male IS pilot's face. It was a teenage version of Ichika, approximately the same age that Ichika would be right now. Could it be…? Was that really Ichika? But if it was, why hasn't he tried to contact her for the past 5 years?

"…"

The male made no move to reply, he only stared at the reporter impassively, unnerving her slightly. Chifuyu frowned at the total lack of emotion on his face and wondered if that could really be Ichika.

"**Um…sir?"**

The reporter tried again, and still he did not reply.

"**His name is Salvatore Vongola."**

The voice of another male, who sounded like he was around her age, cut it on the interview. The reporter paled, and Chifuyu wondered if it was because of the person who just walked in. The camera jerked and shifted to focus on the newcomer, a tall brown-haired man in a black suit. Chifuyu noted that he looked Japanese despite the fact he spoke fluent Italian without so much as an accent.

"**I'm sorry I'm late, I was held up at a meeting. I'm Salvatore's employer, Sawada Tsunayoshi."**

If possible, the reporter paled even more.

"**I-I-It can't be…Vongola…?"**

The reporter whispered in a fearful voice and the camera shook, as though the cameraman was shaking like a leaf.

"**Oh, I see you've heard of us."**

The Japanese man spoke in an upbeat tone, unfazed by the obvious fear on the reporter's face. As he walked into the room, Chifuyu noted that there were two other people behind him. An old Italian man with kind eyes, and a scarred Italian man in his 30s, with black hair and narrowed red eyes and a scowl on his face. Chifuyu noted that he looked very similar to the Ichika look-alike, similar enough to be brothers.

"**Allow me to introduce my associates. My predecessor, our former boss, Timoteo Vongola, and one of my subordinates, Timoteo's son, Xanxus Vongola. They're Salvatore's father and brother."**

Now the reporter looked she was torn between bolting or just passing out on the spot.

"**Um…is it really necessary for all of you to be here for the interview?"** The reporter asked nervously.

"**Well, since Timoteo and Xanxus are Salvatore's family, they have a right to be here. And I'm here to speak in place of Salvatore."**

"**Speak in his place?"**

"**Salvatore had an accident five years ago that unfortunately destroyed his vocal cords, rendering him mute. So, I'll be speaking in his place, Please direct all questions to me. Of course, if you aren't comfortable with this, we could always just cancel this interview…" **At that point, Sawada Tsunayoshi's eyes narrowed, and Chifuyu almost shivered at the ruthlessness in them. Combined with the kind smile on his face, it made for a very terrifying image, and Chifuyu decided it wasn't worth to make an enemy out of someone that manipulative. If the reporter, who had managed to secure the first interview with the only male IS pilot in the world, screwed it up, she could pretty much kiss her career, present and future, goodbye. He had left her with no other option but to continue with the interview, despite her obvious fear. Chifuyu had to wonder just who this Sawada Tsunayoshi was to inspire such fear.

Chifuyu also perked up at 'five years ago'. It matched the time period that Ichika had been kidnapped. Were they the kidnappers? Or perhaps they were the ones who rescued Ichika? And on top of that, they boy who was possibly Ichika was mute? Just what had his kidnappers done to him!?

"**W-Well then, how did Mr. Vongola first discover his ability to pilot an IS?"**

"**Oh, that's actually quite an interesting story. You see, our…organization is the main developer of IS technology in Italy. Naturally, as the son of our previous boss, Salvatore is also a member of our organization. Two days ago, our research lab was attacked by a certain terrorist organization looking to steal the 3rd Generation ISs that we had just completed. Salvatore happened to be there at the time and accidently activated one of the practice ISs while evacuating the personnel. With it, he successfully repelled the terrorist organization and the incident ended with no casualties and none of the ISs stolen. We meant to keep quiet about the whole incident, but unfortunately, there were several witnesses who blabbed to the government, who sent officials to our doorstep, begging to let them announce it to the public. After the negotiations, we agreed. So here we are."**

Chifuyu frowned. He was good, but having grown up with her 'family', Chifuyu could identify lies in that story. Other than the last part about the government begging them, the whole story sounded like a lie to Chifuyu. A cover-up?

"**I-I see. Then, what will become of Mr. Vongola in the future?"**

"**Hm…we're still negotiating with the government, but most likely, he'll be sent to IS Academy."**

Chifuyu froze. He was coming to IS Academy? The boy who was possibly her missing brother? It sounded almost too good to be true. But…this was a good opportunity to confirm if that really was her brother.

"**I see…Then, does this mean that Mr. Vongola will be one of Italy's Representative Candidates?"**

"**It's a possibility, but it seems unlikely to me. Salvatore is the first male IS pilot known to the world, so it's unlikely that other countries will be happy if Italy tries to monopolize him. Ultimately, the decision will be made by the UN."**

Chifuyu nodded, that seemed logical, there was no way other countries, including Japan, would keep quiet about this. She could already picture government officials all over the world scrambling to offer as many incentives to the boy as possible.

"**I'm very sorry, but we have an important meeting in a few minutes, so we'll have to cut this interview short. If you'd like, we could arrange for another interview." Sawada Tsunayoshi ended the interview with a tone of finality, implying that this was not negotiable. The reporter seemed to pick up on that.**

"**I-I see. It's a pity, but that's all from me. Back to you-"**

Chifuyu switched off the television. After all these years, she finally had a plausible lead. She picked up her phone and called the Dean of IS Academy. No doubt he had already heard of this development. She would have to make sure that she would be the boy's homeroom teacher.

It had been five long years, but Chifuyu had finally regained a small glimmer of hope.

* * *

Salvatore Vongola sat in a private jet bound for Japan, a glass of white wine in his right hand, which was adorned with the Varia Cloud Ring and the Fake Mare Storm and Rain Rings, and his left hand supporting his chin as he stared out of the window at the sky. He was technically underage, but hey, as his brother said, if you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to drink.

Squalo had not been kidding five years ago when he said his training would get tougher. Compared to the training he had gone through for the past five years, the training he had gone through the month before his initiation seemed like a very happy memory, even the torture resistance training. He understood the reason though, there were certain standards he had to live up to as a core member. Plus, it had paid off, he wasn't the strongest in the Vongola, not by a long shot, but he was at the very least in the top tier, along with his fellow teammates and Decimo's Guardians. Decimo, his brother, the strategy commander, Hibari-sensei, Reborn-sensei and Rokudo Mukuro were still leagues ahead, but he was at least on par with the other Guardians. Mammon was technically physically weaker than he was, but his illusions were top-class, not at a level he could easily break…yet.

Salvatore found himself in central roles in most of the Varia's missions shortly after he joined. The core members, save Mammon, were flashy and made a huge din whenever they were out on a mission, which was why they couldn't take many covert missions like assassinations of public figures. Before Salvatore joined, Mammon and maybe Squalo on some occasions when the mission was extremely important, were the only ones who could carry out silent assassinations. The moment he joined, the skills that he was trained in the most was sniping, and after he grown up a bit, acting. Which was why he acquired two new weapons: a PGM Hecate II, an anti-material sniper rifle, and a PGM Ultima Ratio, an anti-personnel sniper rifle. Naturally, both had been modified to function in the same way his Storm Gun did, compressing Dying Will Flames into bullets.

Many people, even in the mafia, would question Xanxus's decision to let a kid take on assassinations, but being emotionally stunted, it was not a problem to him. He wasn't emotionless as he was five years ago, but he was definitely less emotionally developed compared to normal people. The Varia wasn't exactly the nest place to cultivate most emotions, but it served its purpose in cultivating loyalty and ruthlessness, both important assets to an assassin. He could finally feel other emotions to some extent, but they served no purpose to him, so he usually crushed them down, unless he needed them for a role.

Speaking of his Storm Gun, it had been modified as well. Now instead of a Beretta, it looked pretty futuristic, with a laser blade attacked to the barrel so that it could be used as a blade, and an open chamber at the back so that tubes, like the ones that Gokudera-sensei used, could be fitted in. He had two, so he was using the same two-guns fighting style that his brother did.

The Cloud Snake, which he named Aldrea was upgraded to 'Armatura Ossidiana Serpente di Nuvola', the Obsidian-Armored Cloud Snake, and integrated into his Varia Cloud Ring, Said Cloud Ring also functioned as a storage for his other Box Weapons, so that he didn't have to carry them around. That included the Storm Boxes, his Storm Guns and the Storm Tiger, Decimus, and the Rain Boxes, the Rain Tube and the Rain Eagle, Ezio.

Back to the present, why was he on a jet bound for Japan. Funny story. He and the rest of the core members were sent on a mission to wipe out the base of a certain terrorist organization that had barged in on their territory. While he was in there, he accidently activated one of the ISs and somehow ended up outside where he was seen by no less than 5 civilians. Not good for a covert mission, but luckily, no one seemed to be paying attention to the base he had just busted out of, instead opting to gawk at a male piloting an IS. The whole incident was caught on camera and was leaked to the Italian Government, who recognized the Varia uniform, so they sent some unfortunate soul to beg them to allow his ability to be made public, solely for publicity. Decimo considered it and found it to be a good idea since it might allow them to establish a monopoly on IS development in Italy, and thus bring in more clean money.

So here he was, on his way to Japan to begin attending IS Academy. Salvatore thought about the whole thing. A three year-long mission with no backup in an isolated, high security school in Japan, filled with hormonal, snobby teenage girls.

This was going to suck.

* * *

And the prologue is finished and Salvatore's on his way to IS Academy.

As you can see, the Flame of Death, while pretty much all-powerful, was not without weaknesses, the primary one being the extremely high energy consumption. Therefore, Salvatore cannot use it whenever he wants.

The next update will be for Dragon Emperor of the Heavenly Storm, where I'll finish up both the Asia arc and the Raiser arc.

That's all. As always, please read ands review.


	3. Important Notice

Hey guys. Sorry, this is not an update. I have a piece of bad news. I've sprained my back. It's not too serious, but I'm taking painkillers thrice a day to deal with the pain. Thus, I cannot sit down for long periods of time to type out chapters like I usually do. Expect updates to be slow for maybe a week or two, which is a real pity, considering I was so close to finishing the next chapter of Dragon Emperor of the Heavenly Storm.

That's all. Sorry for getting your hopes up.


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